2022-23 Florida Panthers Offseason Recap

As stated earlier, the Panthers had some very difficult choices to make for their personnel after this year’s disappointing playoff loss. One of the first moves made by general manager Bill Zito was to make a change at the head coaching position.

Andrew Brunette did a wonderful job of stepping into an uncomfortable situation and making things work. After the first seven games, Joel Quenneville was let go following the controversial sexual abuse case involving his former team, the Chicago Blackhawks.

Brunette took charge and did a great job leading the team for the rest of the season. He was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. However, his flaws were quickly apparent come playoff time.

The biggest problem was that Brunette took way too long to make adjustments in the lineup when the Panthers were struggling. This was especially the case in the Tampa series where he kept everything the same until the writing was engraved on the wall.

So, Bill Zito made a bold move. He decided to go after a prominent name in NHL head coaching circles. Florida would be the fourth different franchise that newly appointed bench boss Paul Maurice will join.

Paul Maurice has had a long coaching career in the NHL and will give the Panthers experience behind the bench, something that they were lacking when Brunette was around.

Maurice got his first coaching gig with the Hartford Whalers in 1995. In 1997-98, the Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes and Maurice would stay there until 2003-04. He led Carolina to three postseason berths, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2002.

He was replaced by Peter Laviolette during the 2003-04 season.

From 2006-08, Maurice would be the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. During his two campaigns in Toronto, Maurice never made the playoffs and posted subpar records.

In 2008-09, he returned to Carolina. He added another postseason appearance when the Hurricanes made the Eastern Conference Final in ’09. But that was the lone highlight for his second stint in Carolina.

He never made the playoffs again and was fired during the 2011-12 season. This led him to be hired by the Winnipeg Jets for the 2013-14 season.

From 2013-2021, the Jets were one of the more consistent teams in the Western Conference, making the playoffs five times under his leadership. However, the Jets made it out of the first round only twice, which included a Conference Final berth in 2018.

While Paul Maurice has proven to be a solid NHL coach, playoff success has largely eluded him. During his long career, he has only gotten past the second round three times. This isn’t all his fault, as some of the teams he coached weren’t sustainable and never made many deep playoff runs.

Also, many of the teams that he coached were undone by an opponent who was always better than what he had. In any case, little postseason success has been a major piece of criticism throughout his career.

This could be the most talented group that the 55-year-old coaches in his career. The team is already stacked with great talent. Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell and Anthony Duclair are some of the mainstays on the roster.

All of the players mentioned are in their 20s and have tons of years left in their primes. This is a capable team and they are still going to be really good.